I’ve MOVED

If you’ve landed on this page for some reason, I kindly ask that you take a moment to visit my new blog home instead:

My Life, I Guess

So, I Guess I’m Doing This Thing!

UPDATE: March 7, 2013
I’m (not-so) patiently waiting for HostGator to get their act together and migrate this blog with my new domain and hosting. This free service was a big reason I went with HostGator, but so far it’s taken them longer then the 24-72 hours they advertise. Teach me for being cheap and lazy, I guess…

 

About a month ago, Michelle over at Making Sense of Cents wrote How To Start a Blog – Tips for Beginners because she gets emails daily asking for advice or help.  (Although I’m not new to blogging or having my own domain, I’m guilty of being one of those people.  And she was kind enough to respond – several times.)

Back when I was in university I was a pretty regular blogger on my own domain, although it was more of a public diary then anything. I did most of the html coding and graphic designing (if you can call it that) myself, which was very time consuming; I didn’t use wordpress or any of the amazing (and easy) features that came with my host. I sort of did it the hard way, but that’s the way I learned it. And that’s not something I wanted to do again. I was pretty content blogging away here for free.

Then a week ago, Kathleen over at Frugal Portland posted Blogging Tips for Beginners.  I commented about my hesitation to take the plunge into domain-ownership again, due to my lack of having and wanting a niche, and struggling to find my voice.

5 days ago she replied:

And then 3 days ago this happened:

So… I guess I’m doing this thing!!!  And you know what?  I’m super excited to get this thing going!  I hadn’t realized how much I missed it until Michelle planted the seed, and (forgive my bad metaphor) Kathleen gave it water and sunshine.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may notice how clueless I am about how to best do this.  Which host should I use?  Should I create a separate Twitter account for my blog, or just change the name of the one I’ve got?  Am I going to be able to merge the content from this blog onto the new one, or will I have to start from scratch?  And what the hell is a self-hosted wordpress?!?! Ok, I’m not completely clueless about it all; nervous may be a better way to describe it.  (But if you have the advice for any of the above, please share!)

As of right now, the only thing I’ve done is register the domain name.  I’m, of course, working 13 hour days over the weekend and haven’t had the time to make any more informed decisions or progress, but I’m hoping to have it all figured out a.s.a.p. so I can get back to y’know, actually blogging.

A great big thank you going out to Michelle and Kathleen again, Liquid Independence and my friend Nick for responding to my desperate pleas for advice via Twitter, and my little sister for indirectly helping me pick my new site name (and NO thanks to my B.I.L, or older sister for your nonsense!!), and of course to YOU – the people responsible for the increasing numbers in my blog stats and for helping realize I can, and should, do this.

February Recap

It’s my 5th month of tracking, and overall I’m doing alright.  I spent less than I did in October and December, but more than I did in November and January – February’s right in the middle.

THE GOOD

Savings. Guys! I finally put money towards my TFSA!  It wasn’t much… less than $100, but it was money I was not anticipating, so rather than blowing it on something I don’t need, I put it right in the bank.

 

THE BAD

Clothing & Misc. I went to the mall and bought pretty things that I probably don’t need.

Fees. I got charged $5 extra for using my debit card too much.  I blame the government of Canada’s phasing out of the penny for this one.

Food. I thought this would be a cheap month food-wise for me, considering I couldn’t really eat (still can’t) after getting my wisdom teeth out, but somehow I (over)spent the same amount I always (over)spend.  In the days leading up to the surgery I went a little nuts on the fast food “because I won’t be able to eat for a week!” and then afterwards when I could eat (some) solid foods again, I went a little nuts again “because I haven’t eaten in a week!”

Medical.  The wisdom teeth maxed out my dental coverage for the year in one fell swoop, and still cost me a few hundred bucks out of pocket.

 

THE IN-BETWEEN

No Spend Days.  I had 10 no-spend days in February, but that’s a bit of a cheat.  February is the shortest month, but I was also pretty much on bed-rest for a week there and didn’t leave my apartment.  So while it’s good to have so many no spend days, it wasn’t really by choice.

 

MARCH GOALS

Welp, it’s pretty clear that I suck at making monthly goals, so I’m going to go ahead and not do that this month and see how it goes.